1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for detecting problems in computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for identifying a drift in a quantized signal which can be used to detect problems in a computer system.
2. Related Art
Rapid advances in computing technology presently make it possible to perform trillions of computational operations each second on data sets that are sometimes as large as a trillion bytes in a large computer system. These advances can be largely attributed to the exponential increase in the density and complexity of silicon chips.
Unfortunately, in conjunction with these advances, a computer system's tolerance to environmental parameter changes has decreased dramatically.
For example, in a CPU, an important environmental parameter is its core voltage, vCore, which specifies the normal logic high voltage. Transistors within a CPU typically work within a tolerance range of 10% of the nominal vCore. A vCore value beyond the tolerance range can permanently damage the transistor, which can cause CPU failure.
The nominal vCore has been consistently decreasing with increasing transistor density which has pushed vCore below 2V in the current generation of microprocessors. As a result, the actual range of permissible operating voltages has become very small, and even a small drift in the vCore can lead to disastrous consequences.
If we can detect a drift in vCore, we can take preventive measures to protect the system before vCore drifts out of the tolerance range and causes a catastrophic system failure. For example, when a drift is detected, the system can be shut down for maintenance and the CPU can be replaced.
Hence what is need is a method and apparatus for identifying a drift in a signal in a computer system.